N.Korea threatens pre-emptive nuke strike against S.Korea, US / YTN

North Korea warned of "pre-emptive" and "indiscriminate" nuclear strikes against South Korea and the U.S. mainland, as the two allies have kicked off the largest-ever joint military drills today (Monday).

The threat was made in a statement by the North's influential National Defense Commission, after its leader Kim Jong-Un last week ordered a full preparedness of the country's nuclear arsenal for use at any time, in response to stern new U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang for its nuclear test in January and last month's long-range rocket launch.

The North Korean statement published by the North's official Korean Central News Agency denounced the annual South Korea-U.S. military exercises as "undisguised nuclear war drills" that threatened North Korea's national sovereignty. The commission vowed to counter with an all-out offensive in response to "even the slightest military action."

The North Korean hierarchy asserts that any of the communist state's military strikes would target not only operational theatres on Korean soil, but also U.S. bases on the mainland and in the Asia-Pacific region.

The statement added the North's common rhetoric saying that if the North pushes "the buttons to annihilate the enemies..., all bases of provocations will be reduced to seas in flames and ashes in a moment."

[ 한국 뉴스 채널 와이티엔 / Korea News Channel YTN ]